Tenjou Shrine, meaning the shrine above the heavens.
Despite its heavenly name, the small shrine was located in a rather quiet little district named Nogizaka.
It wasn't the most beautiful, it wasn't the biggest but it was one of the most miraculous and most influential shrines in the Eastern region.
Decades ago, when Akira's mother, Kaguya, was born and was recognized as the descendant of the Goddess Amaterasu, mouth of word boosted the relatively unknown shrine to fame.
The visitors of the shrine increased gradually. It wasn't just because of the famous descendant but the wishes or prayers made at the shrine came through.
With the bloom of technology and an open-minded management, the shrine had reached its prime when Akira was around 10.
Throughout its hundred years of history, Tenjou Shrine had only one main shrine for worship and a multipurpose hall on the left. There was a small parlour on the right side of the worship hall to receive guests or important V.I.Ps but not often used. On the other side of the parlour was the general reception opened to serve visitors whether in terms of providing information or selling souvenirs.
Even after it rose to fame and started to earn a considerable amount of money from donations and selling souvenirs, all the management did was maintain its glorious main worship hall and added more decorations.
The current overseer of the shrine was Akira's grandfather, Shinzo, but he preferred to stay behind the scene. Shinzo's old friend Samuro, who was also Mako's grandfather, took the position of chief priest.
Samuro ran the shrine in front and took care of all the trivial matters while Shinzo took care of the supernatural part. Shinzo was also the representative of their shrine in the Exorcism Society of Japan. In business terms, Samuro was the CEO and Shinzo was the honorary consultant.
Samuro and his granddaughter, Mako, were currently in the multipurpose hall and Akira was kneeling before them with a bitter smile.
The chief priest was a rather tall elderly, 189cm to be exact, and had a gray beard over his chin. He was always in his proper priest attire and it looked very fitting to his kind and merciful face.
"What did I tell you before?" Mako looked down at Akira and asked in a rather heavy tone.
"Not to cause trouble and be careful?" Akira answered with a helpless smile. "Well in my defense, I didn't cause any trouble, trouble came to me instead. I've protected Mayuri from a Yoma!" Akira tried to defend.
"What about the damage done to the local ryokan? The burned ground in front of the ryokan? The shattered glass entrance? I know your spiritual energy is strong but you've gotta keep it under control! Otherwise more accidents will happen!"
"Sorry, all I had was your talisman to channel my energy. I guess it wasn't as strong as you claimed it to be." Akira teased.
"What?! You broke my talisman and you blamed it for not being strong enough?! How dare you, I'll…"
"Mako, that's enough."
Samuro interrupted his granddaughter before she choke Akira by the neck.
Mako grunted and stood behind her grandfather but her gaze was glued to Akira.
"Akira, well done in protecting Ms.Kanda." Samuro praised.
"Thank you Uncle Samuro!"
"See, Mako, Uncle Samuro appreciates my efforts!"
Akira thanked Samuro and continued to tease Mako by sticking his tongue out.
Mako gasped silently, her eyes were looking inconceivable, yet she kept quiet with pouty lips.
"Since you are back from your summer vacation, I guess you can finally accept the agreement to become our shrine's contracted exorcist? Your grandfather urged me to 'CONVINCE' you this time." Samuro emphasized on the word 'convince', it sounded like nothing good in Akira's ears.
"Well…"
"You promised us that you will accept the agreement after your summer vacation, saying that its your last chance to play! We tried to convince you for years and you are not escaping this time!" Hesitating, Akira caught Mako's sharp gaze, he conceded with a sigh.
"Fine, fine, fine, I know I know, I'll accept the contract and become Tenjou Shrine's exorcist." Akira said as he laid his hands out with a bitter smile.
"I know you have been practising exorcism since you are 10, but getting officially recognized by the society will help you further."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. So where do I sign?" Akira said in a helpless tone.
Since Akira was the son of the descendant of Goddess Amaterasu, his natural gifts were very pronounced since a young age and with guidance from his grandfather, he mastered the basics of traditional exorcism in a mere 2 months, where others would require at least 2 years.
Although he had been practising for over 10 years now, he was reluctant to get recognized by the Exorcism Society of Japan, he claimed that the responsibilities and duties that followed were unbearable.
Akira was a carefree, happy person, he'd rather help people with his own free will rather than accepting request from the society. It was just his wishful thinking though.
"I'll prepare the required papers and the little ceremony. Mako will inform you when it is done." Samuro said in a grateful tone.
"Okay, thanks Uncle Samuro." Akira then jumped up and dashed out the room.
"Grandpa, are you sure about this?" Mako asked in a rather dubious tone.
"It's the best way for him. Besides, how can the son of the famous Sky Priestess wander around aimlessly? And I have you to guide him, therefore I am grateful." Samuro said.
Mako curled her lips into a smile with furrowed brows, she was doubtful about the playful Akira but as a senior in getting contracted, it was her duty to guide Akira.
On top of that, Mako was also the guardian of Akira, so there was no way she could escape this.
Sigh. Hope this goes well.
Mako heaved a long breath and thought in her mind.
Akira was glad that he got away from Mako. Sometimes he really couldn't stand how strict she was, so whenever that happens and he couldn't leave the shrine, Akira would go around and help visitors. He liked to talk to visitors and introduced them to the history of the shrine, although his history lesson was less than decent, he'd always make people laugh.
After teasing another pair of old couples who came to worship, Kieran saw Mayuri at the entrance.
He waved at her before he went up, "Hey Mayuri, how are you feeling?"
"Thank you Akira, I'm feeling much better." Mayuri slightly bowed and thanked him.
It was already the third day since their return.
Although ultimately no one was harmed during that little encounter, Mayuri was seriously frightened. Akira brought her to Samuro the day after they came back to remedy the after scare.
Taka and Carly were informed that Mayuri was frightened by a rogue raccoon in the middle of the night and Akira tried to help her, hence accidentally toppled the candle and torched the front porch of the ryokan, plus accidentally broke the glass entrance during the raccoon uprising.
It was a lousy excuse but it somehow worked.
"That's great, so what brings you here today? Are we going for a date?" Akira said with a smile.
"D-D-Date? No… I mean not now…" Mayuri flushed. "I want to ask you about the incident back then. What is that thing? Is it a ghost" she added.
"I guess you can call it a 'ghost' either."
"A ghost?! Like a dead person's spirit?"
Akira was being frank, although it wasn't against the rules of the society to involve commoners into the supernatural realm, everyone had to start somewhere anyway, it was dangerous to drag innocent into the unknown.
"Yes. After we returned to the room, I noticed a burnt talisman charm beside your handbag. I guess that's the reason why the ghost caught your presence in the first place." Akira explained.
"The talisman charm? Now I remember, I got it from a little kid when I came back from work. I saw the kid standing at the train station selling little gifts but no one cared about him."
Recalling her memories, Mako finally knew why trouble caught her presence.
"I guess that was some wandering soul looking for target and you, the always unlucky girl accidentally got caught." Akira touched his nose and smiled.
Mayuri pouted, "I know I am unlucky all the time! Never did I know I would get into such big trouble!" Mayuri flushed harder.
"Sorry, sorry. Hahaha, well don't worry. I am here to protect you!" Akira tapped on his chest and assured her.
"P-Protect m-me?" Mayuri looked down with a red face, she held her handbag tighter and her palms started to sweat.
"Yup. Here, I have something for you. After Mako knew what happened, she told me to give you one of her handmade talisman charms." Akira took out a tasliman charm from his pocket.
"This is for me? T-Thank you." Mayuri's eyes widened out of joy. She was happy to receive a 'gift' from Akira.
"Yeah, I almost got roasted by that old nagging ha-"
"Who are you talking about!?"
Akira jumped and turned around, Mako's voice spooked him from behind.
Mako had her hands around her waist and was looking at Akira with a dubious gaze.
"Uhh… T-The ghost! Yeah, the ghost that I exorcised!" Akira quickly came up with an excuse to save his skin.
"Hello Mako-chan."
"Mayurin!! I've heard from Akira that you encounter a ghost? It must be terrifying for you.
Mayuri and Mako knew each other pretty well, since they were the only females around Akira that grew up with him, Mayuri treated Mako like her little sister too.
"Yes, it's quite terrifying but Akira saved me."
"See, I am that good." Akira smirked, he touched his nose and looked delighted again.
"I'm sure he did a pretty 'GOOD' job." Mako gave Akira the side-eye.
"Grandpa is done with the preparation. Let's go, you are not escaping today!" Mako reminded Akira.
"Mayurin, sorry we have something to attend to, we'll go out together some other days!"
"Sure, sure it's fine. It's my bad for coming here unannounced." Mayuri smiled.
"You can come here whenever you want! Right, Mako?" Akira said.
"Come on, let's go."
Mako waved at Mayuri before she dragged Akira way.
Mayuri saw them off, her eyes looked up into the sky and then at the talisman charm in her hand, "He protects me?"
Blushed, Mayuri strode away.
Akira and Mako went to the back of the main shrine. There was a small altar behind it and was only opened to a few within the shrine.
Samuro was waiting for the both of them inside the little cottage-like altar. In front of him was a tray and a scroll.
"There you are. Come Akira, write your name here."
The scroll was rolled opened in front of Akira.
The scrolled opened up to be blank, not even a single drop of paint was inside.
"Channel your spiritual energy and the words will be revealed to you."
Akira nodded, his spiritual energy started to amass at his hand as he placed it over the empty scroll.
As the white spiritual energy was transferred to the scroll, words began to appear.
'By signing this contract, the contractee will be an official exorcist of the Exorcism Society and he or she will be responsible to the shrine that he or she is assigned to.'
Other than that line of words, many other mystical wordings were drawn inside, all of them were glowing in white as Akira channeled his energy.
Akira then looked at Mako beside him and Samuro who was looking at him with a smile.
"Here goes nothing."
Akira wrote his name on the scroll using his finger as brush and his spiritual energy as paint.
A bright spark later, Akira moved his finger away and his name was glowing in white on the scroll.
"There all done."
"Good for you Akira."
"Gramps?"
Shinzo suddenly appeared behind Akira and Mako after the little ceremony was finished.
He walked up to Akira, jumped up, kicked the scroll off the ground. The scroll then fell into Shinzo's yukata.
"Since you are now an official exorcist of Tenjou Shrine, I can assign you your first task."
"So fast? Can't I at least get a week or a month's rest before I start work?" Akira smiled bitterly.
"Ahem. Your first task from the society is to investigate supernatural sightings at a kindergarten. Mako here will guide you through your first assignment and get you familiar with the procedures." Shinzo didn't care about Akira's rant.
"I'll later pass the details to Mako and you two are expected to leave tonight around 11 at night."
"Yes, Lord Overseer." Mako replied solemnly and bowed.
Akira sighed, he knew he wasn't going to escape because his grandfather knew all his little tricks.
"Yes, Lord Gramps."
Both Akira and Mako then went off to get suited and prepared for the assignment later tonight.
"Finally Shinzo, Akira has taken up the mantle." Samuro said standing behind Shinzo.
"That kid still has a long way to go. Let's just hope that this will be the best way in protecting him." Shinzo exclaimed.
The day soon turned dark.
Because it was summer, the night was rather stuffy and dry. Many people would rather stay at home rather than carrying out their usual activities.
Akira and Mako were shuttling through the shadows of the streets to get to their designated location.
Akira wore a dark custom made blazer with a white T-shirt inside. The sleeves were rolled up above his elbow, exposing his forearm and his fingerless gloves. Around his waist was a pouch, holding all the miscellaneous items that he might use for the assignment.
Akira weapon of choice was his trusty Bladestaff. It was a simpler version of a khakkhara staff without the excessive rings and a 30cm blade was welded on top of the only ring.
Mako on the other hand was looking at her smartphone for the map as she was the leader in this assignment. She was also wearing a similar outfit to Akira but hers was white with red lining over the edges and she wore a short hot pants plus a pair of custom made boots to suit her specialty. Around her waist, instead of a similar pouch, was a holder for her pair of tonfas. Two accessories pouches were tied to both her thighs.
Exorcists had the freedom to wear whatever they like during an assignment, they could either dress normally to blend in or dress uniquely to state their identities—or ranks—to the others in the same field; most preferred the latter more than the former, unless the situation demands it.
"I never noticed it before but aren't your white outfit a little eye-catching while carrying out assignments in the dark?" Akira asked.
"Shut up, keep your heads up. We're arriving after this corner."
Akira pouted helplessly at Mako's reply.
The duo finally reached their destination after the final turn into a street corner: Happy Kindergarten.
As its name suggested, the kindergarten was quite popular around the area because of the kind and caring teachers. However, recently, weird things started to happen in the two-storey building.
Many teachers reported a strange weeping around the pool area and some children told their parents that they were bullied by their 'classmate', but when the teacher was informed about it they realised the said 'classmate' was no longer with them anymore. Aside from the seemingly freaky incident, around 2 weeks earlier, a 6 years old child went missing during nap time and was later found dead in the locker.
There were no obvious wounds on the dead child's body and the cause of death was a heart failure. The child's parents and teachers were devastated and yet none of them had any idea what caused the mysterious death.
"Freaky. Poor kid, must have been charmer." Akira looked at Mako's smartphone for the assignment briefing and commented.
"Keep quiet. Stay sharp, we are going in."
Swiftly keeping her phone away, Mako took the lead and went into the kindergarten.
The kindergarten hasn't recovered from the death of the child, even though the teachers and staffs were working hard in the day to return everything to normal, the place looked abandoned at night.
The moon shone its soft light over the roof of the dark building. Malevolence was lingering above the roof, something impure was definitely lurking inside.
Before Akira truly stepped in, he looked up and faintly felt an ominous presence.
He grinned, "Let's get this started shall we?"